YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI – GLORIOUSLY COMMERCIAL

How to make a hit Bollywood movie? Throw in a cast of likable stars, rehash scenes from old Hindi movies and boost it up with some scenic locales and lovely songs. That’s precisely what YJHD does. It all gave me a sense of deja vu. But still I ended up liking the film.

The plot – The typical girl -boy romance which we have seen n number of times in Bollywood movies. Despite the familiar plot it’s the performance of the leads that lend the film credibility. RANBIR – the next in line from the famous “KAPOOR” clan possibly the next SUPERSTAR. Is there anything he can’t do? Given his extraordinary acting abilities this role is a mere cakewalk for him.

Despite the presence of RANBIR the film clearly belongs to DEEPIKA PADUKONE. Though everybody loved her in OM SHANTI OM what followed were a string of average films with mediocre performance. But she’s really blossomed both as an actor and a star over the last couple of years. With COCKTAIL she proved that she can make a film work on her own. In CHENNAI EXPRESS she gave a performance which was gloriously commercial despite the goof ups in the TAMIL ACCENT. In YJHD she’s doubly impressive as the loner NAINA. Her character has the required depth which the film as a whole lacks and she manages to hold her own despite the presence of an actor like Ranbir. KUDOS- Deepika the star has arrived.

Kalki Koechlin and Aditya Roy Kapur lend admirable support as Ranbir’s best friends. Pritam’s music elevates the film. A pleasant album to listen to. Ayan Mukerji follows up the impressively deep WAKE UP SID with YJHD. He manages to add the right ingredients to make the film work at the box office. It has the required gloss alright but is it a 190 crore film. I have my apprehensions.